### 8

Anseng nods in agreement with your decision. He is mindful of the many miles you have yet to cover before you reach Vabou. As you approach the covered wagon, you notice that it has shed one of its two rear wheels. The Chai wagoneer, clad in a hooded grey oilskin, is struggling to get the wheel back onto the axle but the thick mud and relentless rain confound his every attempt.

‘Wait, my Lord,’ says Anseng. ‘I know this man.’ Your guide tilts back his head and calls out to the luckless traveller: ‘Hail, Chengu!’

The wagoneer turns and peers at you both through the teeming rain.

‘Anseng? Is that you? Ishir be praised, it is you!’

‘Chengu, my dear friend, you picked a fine time to go to market!’

Anseng insists that you stop to help his friend and you feel compelled to agree. As he runs ahead, you bring your horse to a halt behind the wagon, dismount, and tether its reins to the tailboard. Anseng introduces you to his friend. You learn that Chengu is a rice farmer. He and Anseng have known each other since they were young boys. They were both born and raised in the same street in the city of Dwala. When they were young men they went their separate ways; Anseng enlisted in the Chai Army and Chengu became a farmer in this region. Anseng always made sure to visit Chengu at his farmstead when the army dispatched him to H’lau once a year.

The wagon is laden with sacks of rice and the weight of this cargo has made it impossible for Chengu to reattach the wheel. But with Anseng’s assistance, you are able to raise the rear of the wagon just enough for Chengu to push the wheel back into position. Its retaining pin has sheared off and so you improvise a replacement from an iron bracing scavenged from the tailgate. Within the hour, the wagon is good to continue its journey to Vabou. Anseng sits himself beside his friend, and you travel alongside the wagon on horseback. You have covered barely a mile when a cawing sound draws your gaze skyward. A trio of coal-black ravens are circling directly overhead.

If you possess the Discipline of Animal Mastery, turn to 22.

If you do not possess this Kai Grand Master Discipline, turn to 259.